The One Who Fell from the Roof
When the Hodja falls from his roof, everyone gives him advice; the Hodja says, "Bring me someone who has fallen from a roof."
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One winter's day Nasreddin Hodja climbed onto his flat roof to shovel off the snow. The snow was wet and the roof was slippery. The Hodja swung his shovel, his foot slipped, and down he tumbled into the yard with a crash. Luckily he landed in the snow, but he hurt his leg badly. The neighbours ran and carried him to his bed.
That day the Hodja's house filled with visitors. Each of them gave him advice. One said, "Hodja, if you'd wrapped sacking round your feet, you wouldn't have slipped." Another said, "You don't climb up when the snow is wet. You wait for it to dry." Someone else said, "You're getting old, Hodja. Leave these jobs to the young." And another said, "If it were me, I'd have tied a rope round my waist."
For a while the Hodja listened patiently. The more they talked, the more his leg seemed to hurt. At last he sat up in bed and said: "Neighbours, all your advice is good. But do me a favour. Go and find someone in the village who has fallen off a roof before, and bring him here."
The neighbours were puzzled: "Why, Hodja?"
The Hodja sighed: "Because only someone who has fallen from a roof knows how it feels to fall from a roof. You're telling me how not to fall. But right now I want someone who knows how much it hurts and will tell me, 'It'll pass, Hodja. I fell too, and it passed.'"
The neighbours looked at each other, embarrassed. One of them went and fetched the village's old blacksmith, who had fallen from a roof as a young man and spent months in bed. The blacksmith sat down beside the Hodja and brought him a warm ointment for his leg: "Don't worry, Hodja. I fell too. It hurts a lot for the first three days, and then it gets better." The Hodja felt relieved and smiled.
Ever since then there has been a saying in Turkish: "Only the one who fell from the roof knows how the one who fell from the roof feels." In other words, someone who has lived through a trouble understands best the one going through it. Sometimes, instead of giving advice, standing by someone and saying "I understand" is the best medicine.
The tale ends here. Sleep well.
The One Who Fell from the Roof is a children's tale from Nasreddin Hodja, suitable for ages 5-12 and about 2 minutes long. Read it free on Masal Merkezi, play a lullaby or nature sound in the background, tap any word to see its Turkish meaning and save it to your favorites. For similar tales browse the Nasreddin Hodja category.
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